I will therefore try to make my way to its conclusion by another line of thought.
The desire to grow, to advance towards maturity, to realise his true self--the self that is his in embryo from the very beginning--is strong in every living thing, and is therefore strong in every child of man.

But the desire, which necessarily takes its share in the general process of growth, must needs pass through many stages on its way to its own highest form.

In infancy, it is a desire for physical life, for the preservation and expansion of the physical self; and in this stage it is, as I have already pointed out, uncompromisingly selfish.

The new-born baby is the incarnation of selfishness; and it is quite right that he should be so.

It is his way of trying to realise himself.